Consider this common scenario. You really like a house and decide to make an offer. After winning a bidding war and perhaps paying a little more than you wanted, that dream house is yours.
Once it comes time to move in, you start to observe things you didn’t initially notice. Yep, it turns out you have an annoyingly loud neighbor that fires up his Harley every morning at 6am and idles it outside your window because he goes to great lengths to follow proper motorcycle care.
At night another nearby neighbor is blasting bad music and throwing little midweek parties that seem to go on until the wee hours of the night.
It also turns out that your commute to work, despite only being two miles, takes more than 30 minutes. It seemed alright when you visited the house in the middle of the day and on weekends. But it’s not so great anymore.
Helping You Discover the Unknown Factors Upfront
A new partnership between Realtor.com and Airbnb aims to help prospective home buyers avoid these types of scenarios.
They refer to them as “unknown factors” that are typically associated with moving to a new hood.
You might recall the age-old advice to visit the property you’re interested in buying during the day and late at night to see what the vibe is all about.
Is it calm during the day but loud at night? Are there questionable characters having around after hours? Is the street used as a thoroughfare for commuters? It’s hard to determine all of this when you’re being asked to make an offer right away.
And this can be especially difficult when buying a home in a new city or state that you’re less than familiar with. After all, a mere difference of a few city blocks can completely change the picture, nuances only a true local would be able to point out.
Don’t bank on your friendly real estate agent talking you out of a certain home because of these potential issues.
Now to that new solution. If you visit the Realtor website you will now be able to book accommodations nationwide on Airbnb in the neighborhood you’re considering.
The idea is to “live like a local” before actually moving in and getting stuck in a situation that is less than ideal.
When browsing available properties to buy you’ll see an option to “Airbnb before buying.”
This button will appear on the homepage and on listing detail pages (assuming Airbnb isn’t banned there).
You’ll be able to book a short stay in any type of property ranging from a single-family home to condo or loft in the neighborhood of your choice
There is also a Realtor.com “Try Before You Buy” sweepstakes going on at the moment whereby nine lucky winners will get a $500 one-time use gift code redeemable on airbnb.com.
If you don’t feel like spending money on Airbnb, simply follow that advice of checking out the neighborhood and surrounding areas at all times of day and night before buying a house.